When doing research for Barcelona, one name kept repeating itself over and over again, “La Rambla”. It came to a point where Sara actually shouted to me in protest , “Don’t mention la Rambla”. When we finally came to visit this famed street, its reputation did not fail. It was very packed and filled with tourist the world around.
La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural forms Las Ramblas (Spanish and les Rambles (Catalan). From the Plaça de Catalunya toward the harbor, the street is successively the Rambla de Canaletes, the Rambla dels Estudis, the Rambla de Sant Josep, the Rambla dels Caputxins, and the Rambla de Santa Monica. Construction of the Maremàgnum in the early 1990s resulted in a continuation of La Rambla on a wooden walkway into the harbor, the Rambla de Mar.
La Rambla can be crowded, especially during prime time tourist season. Most of the time, there are many more tourists than locals occupying las Ramblas — this has changed the shopping selection, as well as the character of the street in general. For this reason also, it has become a prime target for pickpocketing. Lots of unwary tourists have had their wallets stolen on this street. Most recently robbery has also become an issue, even during daylight hours.
The name rambla means, in Catalan, but also in Spanish, an intermittent water flow, and is derived from the Arabic ‘ramla’ which means ‘sandy riverbed’.
We saw street performers dressing up in all sorts of creatures and characters from the devil himself to the Hindu god Veshnu. There were predetors, goblins and a few angels amoung the crowd. There were shops selling flowers, food, tickets to all sorts of stuff. Not lacking were the usual con arist with the gambling game trying to con the non street smart tourist or local. The road lead all the way to the beautiful Port Vell at the end, and during our stay there we came to this street a few times.
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[...] Spanish Vollage :- Barcelona, La Rambla … and filled with tourist the world around. La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural forms Las Ramblas (Spanish and les Rambles (Catalan). From the Plaça de Catalunya toward the harbor, the street is successively the Rambla de Canaletes, the Rambla dels … [...]